Athletes Who Contracted Coronavirus

As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak became a global pandemic that impacted entire industries, the sports world discovered it wasn't immune. On March 12, 2020, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was the first professional league to take action when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the monumental move to temporarily suspend the season.

The rest of the professional and collegiate leagues quickly followed suit: the NCAA canceled the 2020 Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments; Major League Baseball (MLB) announced its season would start eight weeks late; the National Hockey League (NHL) pressed "pause;" the Professional Golf Association (PGA) canceled the remainder of the Players Championship and the postponed the upcoming 2020 Masters tournament; and Major League Soccer (MLS) suspended its season for 30 days. If that wasn't enough, 2020 Tokyo Olympic organizers are "seriously worried" about the virus and are mulling over whether or not to cancel the summer Olympic games entirely (via AP).

However, these measures still haven't stopped the spread of COVID-19 within these organizations. So while America's sports are social distancing from your televisions, let's find out which athletes have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.

ESPN revealed on March 12, 2020, that Rudy Gobert's teammate, Utah Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell, had also tested positive for the coronavirus. "Jazz star Donovan Mitchell has tested positive for the coronavirus, league sources tell ESPN," the network's Senior NBA Insider, Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted. "Jazz players privately say that Rudy Gobert had been careless in the locker room touching other players and their belongings. Now a Jazz teammate has tested positive."

Mitchell confirmed his diagnosis on Instagram, thanking his well-wishers and taking what appeared to be a shot at Gobert. "Thanks to everyone who has been reaching out since hearing the news about my positive test," he wrote in part. "We are all learning more about the seriousness of this situation and hopefully, people can continue to educate themselves and realize that they need to behave responsibly both for their own health and for the well being of those around them."

Two days later, the 2018 Slam Dunk Contest winner posted a video to social media, letting fans know that he was "[feeling] fine" and passing his time in isolation by playing video games. "Just want to say thank you guys so much for your continued support, man. It means a lot to me," Mitchell said, adding, "I can't wait to get back on the floor and play for the best fans in the world."

On March 17, 2020, the Brooklyn Nets announced that four of their players, including superstar Kevin Durant, tested positive for the coronavirus — bringing the number of NBA players infected with the virus to seven. In a statement posted to NBA's official site, the team said "one player is exhibiting symptoms while three are asymptomatic." All four players are in isolation "and under the care of team physicians."

"The health of our players and staff is of the highest priority to the organization and the team is doing everything within its power to ensure that those affected receive the best possible care," the team said.

The team did not release the names of the players, but Durant confirmed his diagnosis to The Athletic's Shams Charania. "Durant says he is feeling fine," Charania tweeted, before quoting the NBA star as saying, "Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine. We're going to get through this."

On March 19, 2020, Boston Celtics star Marcus Smart revealed he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a video posted to his official Twitter account. "I was tested 5 days ago and the results came back tonight, which were positive," he wrote in the caption. "I've been self quarantined since the test, thank goodness. COVID-19 must be taken w the highest of seriousness. I know it's a #1 priority for our nation's health experts, & we must get more testing ASAP."

"I'm OK, I feel fine. I don't feel any of the symptoms," he said in the video. "But I can't stress enough practicing social distancing and really keeping yourself away from a large group of people and just really washing your hands and help protect yourself. And help protect others by protecting yourself."

In a follow-up tweet, Smart strongly encouraged the "younger generation" to "self distance." He added, "This is not a joke. Not doing so is selfish. Together we can beat this, but we must beat it together by being apart for a short while."

Retired South African swimmer Cameron van der Burgh, the 2012 Olympic 100-meter breaststroke champion, announced he tested positive for coronavirus during a series of tweets on March 22, 2020. "I have been struggling with Covid-19 for 14 days today. By far the worst virus I have ever endured despite being a healthy individual with strong lungs(no smoking/sport), living a healthy lifestyle and being young (least at-risk demographic)," he wrote.

He then went on to explain his symptoms and how his body is reacting. "Although the most severe symptoms (extreme fever) have eased, I am still struggling with serious fatigue and a residual cough that I can't shake. Any physical activity like walking leaves me exhausted for hours," he tweeted.

The former medalist then explained how the coronavirus would affect any athlete training for the 2020 Olympic Games. "The loss in body conditioning has been immense and can only feel for the athletes that contract Covid-19 as they will suffer a great loss of current conditioning through the last training cycle. Infection closer to competition being the worst," he wrote.

Former collegiate basketball star and current ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke revealed that she tested positive for the coronavirus. During a March 27, 2020, appearance on ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski podcast, The Woj Pod, Burke said that she received her results over a week after getting tested on March 17. 

Confessing that she felt guilty about getting tested while the United States was suffering from a shortage of tests, Burke revealed that the fear of potentially exposing her family won out. Ultimately, she thought that, due to the number of NBA players contracting the virus, she may have been exposed to COVID-19, as well.

"I started to believe, even though my symptoms did not seem to line up with the typical symptoms, I believed, given the nature of my profession, the number of people I encounter, that I did, in fact, have exposure to the virus," Burke said (via ESPN). Admitting that she had a pounding headache and couldn't get out of bed for longer than five minutes at the time, Burke added, "And looking back, those were my symptoms. And we've heard so much about shortness of breath, fever, tightness in your chest, chills, body aches, etc. ... Really, my primary symptom throughout this was this extraordinary fatigue." Luckily symptom-free at the time of this interview, Burke said, "I'm so incredibly thankful to be feeling well."

St. Louis Cardinals great and four-time All-Star Jim Edmonds confirmed that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The 49-year-old World Series champion, who played 17 seasons before his retirement in 2010, shared the news in an Instagram story.

"I appreciate everyone who has said well wishes and wished me the best," said Edmonds in the video (via ET). "I did test positive for pneumonia and I did get a test back positive for the virus. I am completely symptom-free now and doing really well, so I must have had it for a while."

Edmonds said he had difficulty obtaining a test, but he claims he "forced" his care providers to take him to the emergency room where he was eventually tested. "So, don't take it lightly, take care of yourselves," he continued. "There's no medicine, there's no nothing, but rest, and that's all I've been doing."

Los Angeles Rams center Brian Allen tested positive for the coronavirus, he told Fox Sports' Jay Glazer on April 15, 2020. "The first thing he said was, 'I woke up three weeks ago, I couldn't smell anything. I lost all sense of smell to the point where I had smelling salts here, I cracked them open, put them to my nose and nothing happened,'" Glazer said (via Fox Sports: NFL). "Then he lost his sense of taste. He said, 'All I could feel was texture in my mouth — literally was the only sense I had.'"

Allen reportedly told Fox News that his condition felt "different from any other flu he's had," and that his "symptoms included headaches, a sore throat, and fatigue."

"I talked to him yesterday. I'm really glad to hear he's feeling good, he's healthy and he's on the road to recovery," Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay told NFL.com. "I think we all understand that the severity of what this has meant for some people, fortunately for Brian, he's on the road to recovery. I think he did a great job of letting us know right away so we could be timely in our response and making sure that we didn't expose anybody else to that."

Former Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle and five-time Pro Bowler, Tony Boselli, tested positive for the novel coronavirus in late March 2020 and quickly took a turn for the worse. After he began experiencing difficulty breathing, the 47-year-old athlete visited the Mayo Clinic expecting IV fluids and medicine, but ended up on a ventilator in the ICU for five days. On April 2, the 6'7", 324-pounder shared his experience with ESPN.

"It was kind of fuzzy, but I remember [the pulmonologist] saying, 'If we don't get your oxygen stabilized, we're going to have to go to the next level,'" Boselli, whose wife, Angie, was also diagnosed, explained. "I remember laying there thinking, 'What do you mean, if this doesn't work?' He says, 'We don't know what direction this is going to go.' I don't know if I ever was like I thought I was going to die, but I remember having the conversation with myself: I don't want to die here."

According to the New York Post, Boselli's son, Florida State offensive lineman Andrew Boselli, also tested positive for COVID-19. The 22-year-old admitted he thought the virus wouldn't affect him since he read reports that it was only a danger to the elderly. "The last few weeks, though, have shown just how wrong I was, and just how seriously we all need to treat this outbreak," he wrote on his team's website on April 10. "I promise you, even if you're young and healthy, you do not want this virus."